ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sahibzada Noor Al Haq Qadri Monday said India has refused to issue visas to Pakistani pilgrims for attending the forthcoming Urs of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti being held in Ajmer shrine, India this month.
In a statement, the minister said India has refused visas to Pakistan pilgrims for attending the Urs for second consecutive year.
He said the Indian embassy in Islamabad has informed the ministry via telephone about refusal of visas. The ministry has conveyed the pilgrims through Short Messaging Services (SMS) on mobile telephone.
Indian embassy has not yet returned the passports of the pilgrims, said the minister.
He said 500 Pakistan religious pilgrims were scheduled to leave for Ajmir shrine in India on March 7 to attend the Urs scheduled to be held this month.
The minister said Pakistan, on the other hand, has so far issued 5,600 visas to Sikh pilgrims and 312 visas for Hindu pilgrims this year. As many as 98 Sikh pilgrims have already reached Pakistan to visit their sacred religious places, he said.
Earlier, India had granted only 190 visas out of 400 requests for pilgrims participating in the Urs of Alauddin Sabir and Nizamuddin Auliya, said the minister.
